Paul Jewell has gone out and achieved something his predecessors have seemingly found difficult, he has brought in a number of half decent players that have mostly all been involved in pre-season matches without breaking the bank.

Arguably, Town are in a better position at the start of a season than they have been for some while. However it is crucial that Jewell uses this as the springboard to better things for Town since the consequences of underperforming may not just be 'another' disappointing season.

There are signs that the patience of owner and key funder Marcus Evans is running thin. Simon Clegg has recently told the BBC, "We only survive because Marcus Evans can afford to put in £4m or £5m of his own money every year to keep the club afloat. That is testing on anyone's pockets, however deep they are."

Aware that this might set alarm bells ringing, Clegg added: "But Marcus is hugely committed to the club, continues to be very enthusiastic and is prepared to continue to support the manager."

There is no doubt that Town’s prospects pre-Evans were fragile. The debt they had would have been a millstone and prevented them from making any sort of progressive signings. They would have certainly gone backwards, maybe into administration and relegation, we’ll never know.

However, despite the secure financial footing that Evans’s ownership has brought, it’s fair to say that Town have underperformed; finishing eighth, ninth, 15th and 13th.

It would also probably be fair to say Evans might be disappointed with his investment and you wouldn’t blame him from suffering funding fatigue. However, in context there are a number of other sides that have spent money and also underperformed: Leicester, Coventry, Derby, Bristol City to name a few.

Was Evans a little naive in the first instance to think that he could get promotion on £5m a year given the level of competition in the Championship fuelled by increased parachute payments and other ambitious wealthy owners? Or alternatively you could argue that success is possible on that level of funding, you just need to pick the right management team and Evans has put his money on the wrong people.

It is hard to determine the motives for Evans’s ownership, was he looking for a potential Premiership side on the cheap with a view to making a killing by selling the club on its promotion for a healthy profit? Or is he an avid Ipswich fan as the reports would have us believe?

My feeling is that Evans is primarily a businessman with an interest in Ipswich rather than an Ipswich fan with pockets deep enough to fund his hobby. Football has been the ego folly of many an owner and I believe that he realises the value of money to the point that he won’t let football compromise his business empire.

He has been level-headed about his investment so far but now reality is settling in, you can’t keep throwing good money after bad. Success will largely depend on how quickly Jewell can bring the players together as an effective and cohesive unit, if he gets it right and Town are up there at Christmas then I can see Evans making money available in January to re-enforce a promotion challenge.

Otherwise, I can see him looking for a way out if Town fail to make progress again this season. The consequences of this may be less desirable than a frustrating mid table finish.

commuterblue added 09:58 - Aug 3 nice article. it will be hard for ME to leave, as any new owners would need to take on the debt, which is still there. Still think it's a credit to Sheepshanks, and to lesser extent extent Bowden, that he got someone like ME in. Sheepshanks was unlucky with the on digital saga, but still steered us through that rocky period.
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Daleyitfc added 10:20 - Aug 3 Allowing the Marcus Evans Group, a faceless corporation, to buy the club has been a disaster : the debt was well-managed and not a burden, and there was no need for anything to be done. We may well now be in the Premier League if this had not happened, and the debt would then be history anyway, BUT we would still be the club we always were. Everything has been wrecked. Sad times.

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commuterblue added 10:23 - Aug 3 the debt was well managed? every year we failed to go up the debt was getting bigger, as was the corresponding interest payments
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collis_itfc added 10:39 - Aug 3 Daleyitfc your a prick
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Lightningboy added 11:11 - Aug 3 Things were going pretty well on the pitch under Magilton until Marcus arrived with his wallet...but hey,i'm not slagging the guy off - he's done a fine job & i'm grateful for the money he puts into our club. PJ's worked wonders since arriving - we all know that , so now let's give him and the team time to settle.
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Vic added 16:35 - Aug 3 Daleyitfc - bah, humbug. Will you only support when things are on the up? Get real and support all the time.
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rosseden added 19:28 - Aug 3 ME group are making huge profits so the loss we make will actually only cost half its amount once you consider the tax saving. Don't see him as a short term speculator as football wouldn't be worth looking at for that. So im not worried. Oh, collis, spot on too . . . . .
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